Reflecting Back
by UndyingSins
Summary: In the middle of an ambush, Edward Elric finds himself sent to a different world, where what he finds ordinary is extraordinary. AU and OOC Rated T for violence and language.
1. Chapter 1

**/AN**

**New stories. I'm going to be starting a poll asking you guys, my readers, which story I should work on. I'm going to work on the two most popular choices, and move from there.**

**DISCLAIMER: I OWN NOTHING! I just create odd ideas like this…which is the result of my figments.**

**AN/**

**Summary: **In the middle of an ambush, Edward Elric finds himself sent to a different world, where what he finds ordinary is extraordinary. AU and OOC Rated T for violence and language.

"Come on, men! Get those road blocks up!" Colonel Roy Mustang shouted. The MPs around him got to work setting up the road block on a nearby road.

This was the first real fight that Edward Elric, the Fullmetal Alchemist, was going into to protect his country. He insisted that his younger brother, Alphonse, stay in Resembool. He didn't want to risk loosing his kid brother a second time. The creak of his automail arm reminded him of the sacrifice he made to bring Alphonse back after a failed transmutation.

"Fullmetal!" the Colonel called. The blonde-haired fifteen-year-old looked at him as he said, "Fix up those barriers over there! If the rioters break through, there's no way we're going to be able to hold them off!"

Edward nodded, not saying anything. The truth was he'd rather not be here, but this was part of the agreement that he set up with Mustang in return for being able to research the Philosopher's Stone.

Edward got to the roadblocks and clapped his hands together, slamming them into the ground to reform the barriers. What he got was an unpleasing surprise. The rebellion had set a transmutation circle here; that he just activated.

The flash of light from it was enormous, and made the MPs turn their heads. From behind all of them, the rebellion attacked, and they were thrown into the midst of a fight in the city of Central.

Edward, meanwhile, was visiting The Truth.

"So, we meet again." The Truth grinned, his smile literally stretching from one side of his face to the other. He was nothing but a white figure otherwise.

Edward growled, "What am I doing here?"

The Truth answered, "What do you think?"

"I didn't activate that circle on purpose!" Ed shouted.

"While this may be true, I'm just doing my part in what the circle was meant to do," The Truth stated. Before Edward could ask what The Truth meant, the Gate sitting behind him opened, and Edward was dragged through by tiny black arms. "Good luck in your new life," The Truth called out after him.

Edward groaned, shaking his head to clear it. He looked around, realizing he was in the middle of an abandoned alley. From the looks of it, he was in East or Central. Most likely it was Central, from the sound, but he couldn't be sure. He slowly got to his feet, gaining his sense of balance. Edward did a quick check to make sure everything was intact. While he still had no arm and leg, the automail was there in place of the missing limbs. Edward felt an unexpected relief from this fact, before checking everything else. He still had his silver pocket watch, his jacket, his shoes, and all the other valuables he carried around with him. Now it was time to see what The Truth changed, and where he was.

Edward slid out of the alley. He realized he was in one of the back streets, where people were less prone to walk. On this street, there were two Ishbalans. From just looking, they appeared to be father and son. They pointed at him and whispered, before the son got up and disappeared into the house behind them. Edward took it as nothing, walking down the street. He realized that he was in East, not Central. This fact bugged Edward for some reason, and there was something about the way the Ishbalan father was looking at him that kept Edward on his toes.

Edward was almost at the end of the alley when he noticed something. It was a piece of paper. To be more exact, it was a Wanted Poster. Edward looked at it, shocked to realize that the person who was wanted was _him_, dead or alive. Edward stole a glance at the Ishbalan and realized in the nick of time to duck out of the way of a bullet.

"Dammit! What was that for?" Ed shouted at the Ishbalan.

The Ishbalan, now holding a gun, replied, "Shut up. You're coming with me." The Ishbalan slowly approached Edward, holding his gun at the ready on the chance Edward tried anything.

There was a flurry of movement as the Ishbalan was tossed aside. "What are you doing?" the transvestite called out to him, holding the Ishbalan down. "Go! Lust and Gluttony are waiting for you at the end of the next street. I'll hold this guy!" When Edward just stared at Envy in confusion, Envy shouted, "Go, you idiot!"

Edward realized that Envy was trying to help him, for what reason he didn't know. He turned and ran, trying to figure out what was going on.

There were more people on this street, all of them but two were Ishbalans. Edward recognized Lust and Gluttony, and he couldn't say he was pleased to see them. They looked happy to see him, though, and started making their way for him when the Ishbalans realized he was standing there. They started firing at him, trying for any hit they could get. Edward dodged all of the bullets, and was getting ready to pull up a barrier to protect himself when he felt something hit him on the back of the head. He fell unconscious, still wondering what was going on.

"Ed! Ed! God dammit, Ed, if you don't open your eyes, you're going to have a lot more than just a bump on your head!" a voice screamed at him when he came too. Edward groaned, opening his eyes. Lust, Gluttony, and Envy were in his field of vision, a bright light hanging above them. All three of them looked relieved to see him open his eyes.

Envy said, "Geez, Ed. You told us you were going to do recon in the East, but you never said anything about playing hooky with the Ishbalans. _Again_."

Edward just stared at Envy, wondering what was wrong with the shape-shifting Homunculus. The fact that Envy didn't insult him and called him by his name was weird enough, but the fact it was his _nick_name Envy used made Edward wonder if he was in some kind of freak house.

"Well? How are you going to explain yourself?" Envy asked.

Edward shook his head. "Ok, this is a dream. It has to be," Edward muttered. All of it was a dream, from the fact that a rebellion was rising in Central to the fact that he was called in to help fight against the war and activated that transmutation circle to the fact that Envy was actually being nice to him.

"How's that philosophy working for you, kid?" Envy asked after Edward had muttered that to himself a few times. "Do you not remember anything?"

"Remember anything?" Ed retorted. "Remember anything? I remember everything!"

A voice from the doorway interrupted them. "Geez, Envy. Out of everyone here, I'd expect you to be able to tell an imposter from the real thing." Everyone turned to the door, seeing an Ed-look-alike. The only differences were that he had both arms, as seen by the black T-shirt he was wearing, and was tall. Envy's height tall. Ed couldn't tell if this copy had an automail leg or not. "I mean, look at how short he is. He couldn't even pass for a good fake-me."

"WHO YOU CALLING A SHRIMP?" Ed shouted at the look-alike, though he hated the fact that this imposter was taller than him.

Envy looked between the two of them, saying, "I don't notice the height much, ok? I thought you seemed weird, what with the way you were acting."

"Hey! Wait a minute!" Edward shouted. He stood up and pointed at Envy, stating, "You always notice my height. ALWAYS!"

Envy stared at Edward like he was crazy, before standing up himself. He shrugged, saying, "Well. We might as well take you to see Wrath. Maybe he'll know what to do with you."

"What makes you think I'm going to follow you?" Edward asked, finding a gun pointed at his chest.

"If you don't," his look-alike threatened, "Then you're going to find yourself in a very bad position, scrub."

Edward had it with this idiot. He slammed his hands together, catching the barrel of the gun with his hands, and changed the barrel into a trumpet, similar to how he did it to that guy on the hijacked train way-back-when.

All of them stared at him in shock. "You can use chemistry?" Lust asked him.

Ed snorted. "Chemistry? That's the weirdest name I've heard it be called."

"There's no way," the second Ed muttered, looking at the first one skeptically. "Chemistry didn't work beyond the transmutation circles, and even so, it didn't make any real advancements to be able to do something of this caliber."

"You make it sound like its dead," the first Ed said.

"It is dead," all of them stated, followed by Gluttony's humming of 'dead, dead.'

Envy looked at Gluttony and said, "Most of it is, anyway."

Edward stared at them, wondering what was going on here. The taller Edward sighed. "Look, come with us to talk to Wrath. You seem to have a lot of questions about this place," he reasoned. "We'll also have questions for you, but maybe we can find something to work with."

"Equivalent Exchange," the shorter Ed muttered.

"What was that?" Envy asked from the door.

Edward shook his head, saying, "Nothing. Sure, I'll come with you guys. For every question you ask me, I get to ask you something."

"Sounds fair to me," the look-alike said. "I'm Edward Elric."

"This is going to be confusing," the first Ed muttered.

Envy asked, "Why's that?"

"My name is also Edward Elric," Ed stated bluntly. Everyone stared at him, wondering if he was serious.

"That pocket watch," Edward said, nodding to the chain hanging from his pants. "Let me see it."

The shorter Ed showed it to him. Envy walked over, looking at it. They tried to open it, but found it had been sealed shut.

"Well, how about this?" Envy suggested once they were done looking at the watch. He pointed at the taller Ed and said, "You're Edward." He then pointed at the shorter one and said, "You're Elric."

Both of them stared at them like he was crazy. "Envy, you realize I reply to both, right?" the taller one stated.

"Hey, I was just trying to think of something that would work!" Envy defended himself. He turned to shorter Ed and asked, "You have anything else you go by?"

"I'm also known as the Fullmetal Alchemist," Edward stated.

Envy nodded. "Edward. Fullmetal. There, we've got our names. Now let's go see Wrath." With that, Envy turned around and walked out of the room, Fullmetal staring after him in confusion.

Edward said to him, "You'll get used to Envy. Everyone does."

With that, they left.

**/AN**

**Just to make my life easy, I'm going to be referring to Edward 1 as 'Fullmetal' and Edward 2 as 'Edward'. No, I don't know why Envy didn't realize that was the wrong Edward. Hopefully more things will be explained in the next chapter, such as why the hell Edward is working with the Homunculi in the first place. And Envy's OOCness. Can't guarantee anything, though.**

**AN/**


	2. Chapter 2

**/AN**

**Take a look at what I did when I should've been doing my homework. Sorry if this chapter seems long and boring, but it's a basic Q&A situation…sorta.**

**DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN FMA!**

**AN/**

The group walked though the hallways, Fullmetal realizing that they were in the military headquarters in Central.

Selim Bradley walked up to Envy. "How'd recon in the East go?" he asked Envy, ignoring the rest of the group.

"You'll find out when we tell Wrath. Where is he?" Envy retorted. When Selim didn't reply, Envy repeated a lot more aggressively, "Where is he, Pride?"

Pride said, "He's not here. He's trying to ease the tension in the South."

"Then we'll talk to the General. Is he here?" Envy asked.

"Yes. Last time I saw him, he was in the office," Pride answered. He turned to Lust and Gluttony at this point, saying, "Wrath wants you two to head west."

Lust nodded. "Right away." They turned and left, leaving Fullmetal with a copy, Pride, and Envy. Not his first choice for company.

Pride left, and the threesome left. Fullmetal asked, "Who's the General?"

"He's a chemist allied with the military," Edward explained. "He's one of the few chemists that still use alchemy."

Fullmetal looked at him skeptically. "You said alchemy didn't work."

"No matter what we tried, we could only deconstruct. For alchemy here, there wasn't any reconstruction. That's why your alchemy came as a surprise. You went right through all three parts of it without any problems."

"You still haven't told me who the General is."

"The General is one of the already few chemists that have taken the Alchemy Deconstruction exam. He's known as the Flame Destroyer."

Fullmetal sighed. "Don't tell me," he muttered as they entered the office. Envy moved to one of the couches, but didn't bother taking a seat. Edward closed the door behind me, Fullmetal glaring at the figure behind the desk.

The familiar, black-haired, black-eyed MP stared back at them. Fullmetal noted that, despite there being non-existent alchemy, he was still wearing his gloves. "Envy, you told me you brought Edward back," Roy Mustang stated. "You didn't say anything about two." He took a closer look at Fullmetal. "You also didn't mention that one of them was short."

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING A SHRIMP!" Fullmetal shouted.

Envy kept going. "Well, I didn't notice how short he was when I was rescuing him from that Ishbalan. Truthfully, I don't even know how the Ishbalan even saw him. He's so tiny."

"Very true," Edward continued goading. "It's no wonder the Ishbalan missed, trying to shoot as such a shrimp."

"That's it!" Fullmetal yelled. He clapped his hands together and extended his automail into a blade. He pointed it at Edward, who was the closest one, and growled, "You're really starting to piss me off!"

There was the clatter of a falling chair, and both Edwards looked at Mustang. He was staring at the automail blade in disbelief. "What was that?"

"Alchemy," Envy said. "He did something similar to Edward's gun."

Edward pulled out the trumpet gun, showing it to Mustang.

Mustang looked from the gun to Fullmetal. "What's your name?" he asked.

"Edward Elric, the Fullmetal Alchemist," Fullmetal replied.

Envy added, "To save confusion, he's Fullmetal."

Mustang looked between the two Elrics, before asking, "How can there be a second one?"

Edward and Envy shrugged, but Fullmetal saw sadness glint in Edward's eyes, just for a moment. It was fast, but Fullmetal was sure he saw it.

"Well," Envy said, flopping onto the couch, "We agreed on an answer for an answer."

Mustang nodded, righting the chair and sitting in it. He motioned for the Elrics to take a seat. Edward settled onto the couch across from Envy, Fullmetal sitting on the other end of the couch, retracting his automail in the process.

"Ok, first question," Envy started. "If you are Edward Elric, then how can you be here?"

Fullmetal paused. "I don't know," he finally said. "The last thing I remember was activating a transmutation circle by accident."

"So somehow a transmutation sent you here," Edward muttered.

Fullmetal nodded. "My turn. What happened here? Where I came from, Ishbal was destroyed."

Haunted looks came over the faces of the other three in the room.

"The Ishbal war," Envy said. "The Ishbalans overran the defenses. We couldn't do anything to stop them, even with the help of the chemists."

Edward clenched his hands. "I was ten when they managed to get to my hometown. Hohenheim had returned to help protect us, protect the village, but it was too late. There wasn't anything he could do to help us. I'm the only survivor."

"Of what?" Fullmetal asked, not wanting to know the answer.

"The Resembool massacre," Edward muttered. "They killed my family and my friends. I barely got away, and I almost didn't survive until other Amestrians found me and brought me here."

Fullmetal's mind flashed to Alphonse and Winry, suddenly wishing they were ok.

"How can you use alchemy?" Mustang broke the growing silence.

Fullmetal sighed. "Where I came from, alchemy had been used for a long time." He pulled out the silver pocket watch. "This is the certification of a state alchemist. Those who carry the certifications are good enough to join the military. The test to get in isn't easy, and only one or two people are accepted every year."

Fullmetal watched as Mustang pulled out a similar pocket watch, only it was bronze and had the Ouroboros tattoo engraved on it.

They sat there for a few minutes, before Fullmetal finally motioned to Envy. "What about him?"

"What about me?" Envy asked.

"I don't know about here, but the Homunculi I know are evil, and work behind the scenes," Fullmetal replied.

Envy blinked. "Evil? Don't know about that, as for the behind the scenes, that's how we used to operate. At least, until an Ishbalan managed to kill Wrath with everyone watching. After he came back to life, the cat was out of the bag. Everything has actually been easier this way, even though we haven't had much luck in gaining back what of Amestris we lost." Envy shrugged, not looking real concerned about it.

Edward turned to Fullmetal. "You claim to be me," he said. "How can you prove that to be true?"

Fullmetal looked down, before shrugging off his red trademark jacket, exposing his automail arm. "I sacrificed my arm so I could save my brother," Fullmetal stated. "It was my friend who made this automail for me." _Al, Winry, are you guys safe?_ Fullmetal asked.

"You sacrificed your arm?" Mustang muttered.

Fullmetal nodded silently.

After a moment of hesitation, Edward asked, "Is…Is Alphonse still alive in your world?"

Fullmetal nodded. "Last time I saw him, he was," Fullmetal answered. His mind jumped to the rebellion that was rising, and hoped that Alphonse and Winry were still safe, that Resembool was still standing and there weren't any worries for them.

"You guys claim you can't use alchemy," Fullmetal stated. He looked at them, asking, "So why do you have guys like the Colonel using what is there?"

"Colonel?" all three repeated.

Fullmetal sweatdropped. "Him." He pointed at the General. "Where I live, he's only a Colonel."

"From the sounds of it, you've come from a different universe," Envy stated, avoiding the question. "You've got alternate Homunculi, and alternate Mustang, and you are the alternate Edward. You've also got an alternate Resembool which, from the sounds of it, is still standing."

Fullmetal glared at Envy. "That's beside the point. So tell me, why are there MPs that use what alchemy you do have?"

"It's better than nothing," Mustang answered. "Even with the alchemy we do have, we've been able to hold off skirmishes and keep what we still have of Amestris under our control."

Before Fullmetal could ask, Envy beat him to the next question. "What's with the mark on your jacket?" He pointed to the cross that had been intertwined with a snake with miniature wings and a crown floating above it.

"Oh, this?" Fullmetal repeated. He glanced at the mark and explained, "it's the symbol my teacher has. She never explained much about it, though." * His gaze turned back to Mustang. "Now, what do you mean by what's left of Amestris?"

Mustang sighed. "I don't know about where you came from and what your version of Amestris is like, but we've only got two of the four outer districts we should have. Drachma and the Ishbalans have taken the North and East in a pact we didn't know about until they attacked. Because of this, the West and South are shaky; we're not sure how much longer we can hold out with so many enemies on our borders."

Everyone fell silent. All of their questions for that moment had seemed to be answered, until Fullmetal asked, "Where am I staying?"

"You can stay with me," Edward piped up before the other two said anything. Upon their questioning gazes, Edward explained, "It would make sense, wouldn't it? Besides, I want to see how different our lives really are."

Fullmetal chuckled. "I don't see anything wrong with it."

Both of them still looked uncertain. "Look, I won't let anything happen to him," Edward persisted. "Besides, we can find some way to remedy the whole look-alike thing for crowds."

"Then I don't see why we shouldn't," Envy sighed in defeat. He looked at Fullmetal. "But how would we make it so he doesn't look himself?"

All of them fell silent again. "Well," Fullmetal finally said, "If you have the components for dye lying around, I could use that to dye my hair a different color. That's normally all that's needed."

Edward got up and left the room without saying anything. The trio stared after him, and he came back a few minutes later carrying a tray full of different things. "Is this what you need?" he asked.

Fullmetal nodded. He took some of each substance and, clapping his hands together, changed his hair from its natural blonde to a dark brown.

Envy whistled in awe. "Very nice," he said, admiring the handiwork. "That should be everything we need. I'd suggest testing it out on some of the MPs before the public, though."

At that moment, someone decided to knock on the door. The smirk that formed on Envy's face stated, _And here's contestant number one._

First Lieutenant Hawkeye walked in, getting ready to start some kind of report, when she asked, "Am I interrupting something?"

"No," Mustang replied. "We were about done. You three may take your leave."

Envy, Edward, and Fullmetal nodded. The door closed behind them and they paused long enough to hear Hawkeye ask, "Who was the brown-haired kid?"

"It works, on her anyway," Envy stated, looking pleased. They started talking to random MPs on their way to the exit, and not a single one realized that there were two Edwards standing in front of them. Though, by the time they reached the exit, Fullmetal had somehow taken on the alias of 'Matt Simmers'.

"Where'd you come up with a name like that?" Fullmetal asked Envy when they were out of earshot of any passerby's.

Envy shrugged. "It was an on-the-spot thing. None of them should realize that there isn't a Matt Simmers listed in the records anyway." Envy turned to Edward and said, "I'll see you at debriefing tomorrow." With that, Envy left.

"Well, come on, my house isn't too far away from here," Edward stated. They left the alley behind and walked down a narrow side street. There were a lot of people that called out greetings to Edward and others that seemed interested in the new kid walking beside him. They didn't let it drop that there was a second Edward in front of them, though.

They walked into a nice and tidy house, right near where, as Fullmetal noticed, the Hughes' lived. Edward didn't mention it though; instead pointing Fullmetal to the guestroom before going into what Fullmetal assumed was the kitchen.

What neither realized was that this was going to impact both lives in unimaginable ways.

**/AN**

**No Alphonse. No Winry. But don't expect that to stop me from finding a way to toss them into the story. I already know how Al's going to appear. :D**

* Honestly, I just don't know much about the Flamel (the symbol on Edward's jacket). I'm not sure if Edward and Alphonse ever talked to Izumi about it.

**R&R Please!**

**AN/**


	3. Chapter 3

**/AN**

**Happy Christmas all! Here's the next chapter.**

**NOTE: I DON'T OWN FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST! No matter how much I wished I did.**

**AN/**

Fullmetal found himself standing in front of the Gate, The Truth smiling like him like it always did.

_So, how are you liking your new life?_ The Truth asked Fullmetal.

Fullmetal stated, "Why am I here? Haven't you done enough?"

_Now, is that any way to treat me?_ The Truth retorted. _I just thought we'd have a little chat. You found out about the world you ended up in, but you are curious about how that transmutation circle sent you there, and why the rebellion had you activate it in the first place._

Fullmetal had to admit, he was curious about the transmutation. The Truth went on without waiting for his answer. _So, in return for telling you about what happened, sacrifice someone. Anyone. I don't care who it is._

Fullmetal stared at The Truth, aghast. He did want to find out about what happened, but he wasn't willing to risk someone else from either Amestris to get the answers to his questions.

_It'll just be a little pain, _The Truth continued. _Nothing to worry about. Why don't you have your double go through the pain you had to go through?_

"Because, he's been through just as much!" Fullmetal shouted without thinking. His hands were shaking, more out of anger than fear. "If you really want to put someone through the torture, then why don't you just put me through it?"

The Truth laughed, but said, _As you say._ The Gate opened up and again, the Fullmetal Alchemist found himself being pulled through it. The pain he experienced went on for what felt like ages, and was very similar to what he went through after the failed human transmutation that landed him with the body he had.

After what seemed to be a century, Fullmetal finally found himself standing back in front of the Gate, covered in numerous cuts and bruises from the pain he experienced.

_Now, where should I start? _The Truth asked Fullmetal.

"From the beginning, like why the rebellion had me activate that transmutation circle in the first place?" Fullmetal stated, gripping a stitch in his side. He was grimacing from the pain, but didn't let it overcome him.

_I thought that would be obvious, _The Truth said. It grinned at him and explained, _The rebellion didn't want to deal with an alchemist that could get his state certification at the age of twelve._

"So that's it then? They simply did it to save their own sorry hides?" Fullmetal retorted.

The Truth laughed. _No. It's so much more than that. They did that to protect you. The people's alchemist. They didn't want to harm the one alchemist that hadn't sold his soul to Amestrian military. They did what they did to get you out of their line of fire._

Fullmetal was glaring at The Truth by this point, trying to decide if he believed The Truth or not. "Ok, so how did they manage to make a transmutation circle that could send me to a different universe?"

_Extensive research, _The Truth clarified simply. _A lot of it came from notes made by one Nicholas Flamel. You know of him, of course._

Fullmetal smirked. "How could I not?"

A voice drifted over both of them. "Hey, you up yet? Geez, you sleep more than you can handle," the voice stated. Fullmetal realized it was his alter self, but before he could say anything, The Truth laughed and Fullmetal found himself waking up in his bed.

"I'm up," he grumbled.

Edward nodded. "Sorry to wake you up like that. I've got breakfast ready for you. It's on the table." Edward turned and left.

Fullmetal sighed, thinking about the information that The Truth gave him. If it was true that the rebellion got the transmutation circle from Nicholas Flamel, then there might be a way to use his notes to get back.

_But why would you want to go back…?_ A voice snaked through his head.

Fullmetal growled, _Shut up! Alphonse and Winry and Granny Pinako and everyone else are there._

He got up and dressed, leaving the spare room and heading for the kitchen. There was a plate of bacon and eggs sitting on the table, steaming hot and waiting to be eaten.

Edward was standing at the stove, making some more eggs and cooking more bacon. He looked up when Fullmetal walked in. "Listen, I need to head to the debriefing about the East before I head out on my next infiltration," Edward explained. "While I'm gone, I need a few things for dinner." He nodded to a piece of paper on the table. "Would you mind picking them up? You can get everything in the market down the street. Mention that you're doing it for me while you're paying. Everyone there knows me and gives me discounts on what I need."

"Yea, sure," Fullmetal stated. He picked up the list and looked at it. There was the usual flour, carrots, and chicken, but Fullmetal had to wonder what some of these other things were for, like avocados. He didn't point it out, though, and instead sat down at the table.

"Oh, and while you're at the dairy picking up cheese, _please_ tell them that I don't need milk," Edward grimaced.

Fullmetal nodded. "Thanks for warning me about that."

"You don't like milk either?"

"How could I like something like that?"

Edward laughed, saying, "Yea, you're me all right."

Fullmetal couldn't help it, he laughed also. "Well, looks like we do share some personal preferences," Fullmetal stated, starting to eat through the bacon and eggs. Edward sat down a few minutes later with another plate of eggs and bacon. They ate in silence and once they were both done, they left.

"Oh, almost forgot," Edward stated as they were heading out the door. He pulled out some money and gave it to Fullmetal. "For the groceries."

Fullmetal nodded, taking the wad of money. "Thanks."

"And don't forget you're Matt Simmers outside The General's office and here," Edward reminded Fullmetal.

Fullmetal sighed. "Yea, I know. Remind Envy to think about coming up with better names. I mean, seriously."

Edward laughed. "Like I said, you get used to Envy." They left the house and walked a little bit together.

The moment they departed, Fullmetal into a store and Edward for HQ, Fullmetal felt like he was being watched. His first stop was the produce shop, where he grabbed what he needed and paid. He quickly got use to the hustle around the market and even made some friends with the local shop owners.

At the dairy, he explained that he was doing this as a favor to his other world self (reminding himself just in time to call him Edward), and was told that he should take some milk home and made the poor kid drink it.

"Edward reminded me to tell you guys he doesn't need it," Fullmetal stated as he paid for the provolone. What Edward needed all these items for, he didn't know. He left the dairy and started heading back to the house, with that same feeling of someone watching him. He turned back many times, but didn't see anyone following him.

He was almost to the end of the road when a couple of kids squealed ran up to him. "A cat!" They cried, trying to catch the cat that strayed towards Fullmetal.

The mother of the apparent kids showed up, scolding them about running off like that. "I'm sorry," she told him. "Is that your cat?"

"Mew?" the cat looked up at him, pitiful. Now that Fullmetal knew the cat was there, he realized that's what had been watching him while he was in the market. The cat was gray – a similar gray to Alphonse's armor – with black stripes running along it's back. There was a scar on its left shoulder, leaving the place barren and red.

_Brother, why can't we keep him?_ Alphonse's voice shouted in his head. Fullmetal could remember having that argument so many times.

"Yea, he's mine," Fullmetal finally stated, making up his mind.

"Can we pet him?" the little girl asked.

Fullmetal smiled. "As long as you're careful." He nudged the cat towards them, and, after a moment's hesitation, the cat purred and started licking the little girl. All of them laughed and started petting him, making sure to be careful.

It took a while for them to leave, but once they did, Fullmetal found the cat followed him even after he left the market. He got back to the house and realized he didn't have anyway inside. He looked at the list; double-checking to make sure he got everything, and found that Edward had written _Look underneath the flowerpot_ underneath everything. He looked around, finding a flowerpot, and found a key underneath that.

Fullmetal managed in opening the door, putting the key back under the flowerpot, and getting the groceries into the kitchen. Once he put them away, he found that the cat had followed him in.

"You know," he told the cat, looking at it again. "You remind me a lot of my brother…"

The cat purred, rubbing against his hand. The cat wasn't very big, but it wasn't a runt either. It was more like a teen cat – not quite kitten, but not quite cat.

A few hours later, Fullmetal heard Edward come in. "I can see you found the key," Edward stated, walking in. Then his eyes fell on the cat Fullmetal had.

"Where'd you find him?" Edward asked, not sounding real concerned.

Fullmetal explained, "He was watching me the whole time I was at the market. Wouldn't leave me alone. You don't mind keeping him here, do you?"

Edward smirked, but it wasn't unkind. "Guess not. You have a name for him yet?"

"Alphonse," Fullmetal replied. This made both of them fall silent. Edward looked slowly from the cat to his alter self and back. He didn't say anything about it, though.

He pulled out a bowl and got some water and placed it near Alphonse the cat. Alphonse started drinking, mewing in delight when he had his share.

"What made you convinced to keep him?" Edward asked.

Fullmetal smiled. "Alphonse would always find stray cats. He would hate abandoning them. I guess part of him rubbed off on me, in a way."

"What do you mean?"

"I always told him that we couldn't keep the cats he found because we traveled too much…now I have to wonder if we would have one if we didn't travel so much."

They fell silent again, Fullmetal occupied with his thoughts. Edward brought him back again, asking, "Why'd you think of naming him Alphonse?"

"His fur, right down to the mark on his shoulder," Fullmetal explained. "It reminds me of what Alphonse is trapped in."

Edward didn't push it, seeing that the topic was sensitive. They stayed silent throughout dinner, and Alphonse followed Fullmetal right into the bedroom, where he fell asleep with a purring cat by his side.

_Alphonse…Winry…_

**/AN**

**So, who likes the kitty Alphonse? I know I do!**

**R&R Please!**

**AN/**


	4. Chapter 4

**/AN**

**I have suddenly been deprived of creative brain cells. I'm reading my state's Drivers Handbook and it's killing me, so I apologize in advance if the next few chapters aren't as good as normal.**

**DISCLAIMER: I OWN NOTHING! Not even kitty Al.**

**AN/**

"Hey, the General wanted me to bring you to HQ today," Edward stated as Fullmetal walked into the kitchen the next morning, rubbing his eyes from tiredness.

Alphonse mewed and Edward smiled, setting down a plate with some food and a tiny mug filled with water. "You know, maybe next time one of us stops by the dairy, we should give in and buy the milk for him," Fullmetal joked.

Edward smiled, chuckling. "Yea, maybe." He scratched Alphonse behind the ear, who mewed again and started eating.

They ate a quick breakfast and went to HQ, Fullmetal making sure he had his disguise on properly so he didn't attract anymore attention than the mewing Alphonse in his hands would allow.

They entered HQ and found that Lieutenant Hawkeye was there with Black Hayate. Black Hayate looked at them and barked, making Alphonse hiss. Hawkeye turned, saying, "Down" to Black Hayate and approached the duo.

Both Elrics noticed her have doubt flash through her eyes as she approached them, like she knew there were two Edwards and no Matt Simmers. She didn't ask, and instead said, "Why'd you bring the cat?"

"Didn't have much choice," Edward explained, looking uncomfortable. "The General asked for Matt here to come with me, and the cat has taken a liking to him."

Hawkeye looked skeptical, but didn't push it any farther. Instead, she said, "Just make sure he doesn't get anywhere near any other dogs. Not all of them are trained as well as Black Hayate."

"Right," both of them said. They left and headed for Mustang's office.

Mustang told them to enter when they knocked, and Fullmetal noticed that Envy was also there. Fullmetal set Alphonse down, who jumped onto the table, looking at Envy expectantly.

"Where'd you get the cat?" Envy asked him.

Fullmetal explained how he was in the market and Alphonse wouldn't stop following him, eventually getting down to how both of them gave in and decided to keep Alphonse.

Mustang didn't say anything, but he didn't appear to disapprove of their choice. "Here," he said to Fullmetal, tossing something at him.

Fullmetal caught it without flinching. He looked at the item and realized it was a watch similar to what this world's alchemists had. Upon Fullmetal's confused look, Mustang explained, "It would seem odd if you were to use the state alchemist watch from your world. Envy managed to grab one for you so it looks like you're a part of this military."

"It's not all bad," Edward continued. "With this watch, you'll have the same access and everything to the military. It'll be the same, just with different expectations."

"Oh, yea? So what's the first difference?" Fullmetal asked.

Mustang stood up and walked over to a map on the wall behind Envy. He pointed to a place in the East, saying, "You three are going to do reconnaissance here. We've received word that the Ishbalans have taken to hanging around there, but we believe their looking for something."

Before Fullmetal could ask, Envy said, "We're flying there."

"Flying?" Fullmetal scoffed.

When everyone looked at him like they were dead serious, Fullmetal asked, "What? Seriously?"

"Yup," Envy said. "Edward there is an accomplished pilot. One of the only two, actually."

"Who's the other one?" Fullmetal asked.

"Hawkeye," Mustang replied. No surprise there.

Alphonse must've decided that he wasn't getting enough attention, because he jumped onto Envy's lap and started licking his cheek. It caused Envy to jump, before laughing and petting the cat. "Hey, can we bring him too?" Envy asked.

Fullmetal looked shocked at Envy's attitude, but Edward laughed like it was expected.

Mustang said, "It's your choice. Head out as soon as you're ready."

They went back outside, Alphonse following behind them mewing constantly. They made sure to well avoid where the dog training was for this simple fact, but eventually came to a hangar.

Fullmetal stared at the plane, asking, "Does it really fly?" It was blue, with the Ouroboros on the tail wing.

Edward nodded. He hopped onto one of the plane's wings and jumped into the cockpit. He helped Fullmetal into the passenger seat, where Alphonse sat in his lap, purring contently. Envy jumped into the last hole, looking completely at ease.

Edward motioned to the guards at the entrance of the hangar, who moved the doors aside. As the plane passed them, they called out, "Good luck!"

Edward waved back to signal he heard, then the plane was off the ground.

Envy shouted, "Keep your mouth shut! Bugs tend to get in otherwise." This caused Fullmetal to slam his mouth shut from the O shape it had been. He was obviously in awe of the flying plane.

Fullmetal lost track of time, but finally Envy called out to Edward, "How long until we land?"

"We're coming up on it now," Edward replied. Fullmetal felt the plane angle downward as they approached earth. They eventually came to a stop on the ground, with a little bump.

"Not one of your better landings," Envy stated, jumping out of the plane. Fullmetal and Edward were quick to follow, Alphonse taking up his position behind the group.

Fullmetal looked around, before realizing where he was. Shaking, he asked, "Why…why would the Ishbalans want to come here?"

They were in the remains of Resembool.

**/AN**

**Short chapter is short, but this felt like a good stop point. And I don't know about you, but Hawkeye seems fully capable to flying a plane to me. Different strokes for different folks, but whatever.**

**R&R Please!**

**AN/**


	5. Chapter 5

**/AN**

**School is boring and robbing me of even more creative cells, but that's just really going to elongate the time between new chapters. Nothing to worry about.**

**DISCLAIMER: I OWN NOTHING! Not even OOC Envy.**

**AN/**

Edward shrugged, but Envy was the only one of the trio that didn't look disturbed about being sent here. "Come on, if we're going to recon here, I want to visit them at least," Edward said.

"Geez, Ed, don't go all sentimental on us," Envy stated. They left the landing strip behind.

Resembool looked horrible. Where crops and sheep used to be, there was nothing but burnt grass and dirt covering everything. Even the small wall that used to stand next to the road was gone, littered across the ground to be taken to the mercy of the elements. Where houses once stood, there wasn't anything left except a bare spot where they once were. Not even the tree next to Fullmetal's house remained. Everything was gone.

They stopped after a bit of walking and Fullmetal's eyes fell on the graveyard. Fullmetal didn't realize just how bad the massacre was until his eyes fell upon the rows of tombstones. There were a lot more in this Resembool's graveyard than in his own Resembool.

"If you two want to stay here, that's fine with me," Edward muttered.

Envy said, "We're staying together. Remember last time we got split up?"

"Yea, but if that didn't happen, Fullmetal probably wouldn't be here with us now."

Fullmetal rolled his eyes. "We're coming."

"Fine." Edward walked into the cemetery and started heading for some of the tombstones.

Fullmetal gazed at each one they passed. The name passed through his mind and he could see them from when he was younger.

"You're looking green Fullmetal. Everything all right?" Envy asked, looking him in the face.

Fullmetal shook his head. "This, this is horrible. I didn't realize the Ishbalans were capable of this."

"You said in your world the Ishbalans fell. How did it happen?" Envy asked.

Fullmetal said, "Everything was destroyed and the Ishbalans separated into smaller groups, just trying to find a living." He thought of Scar. "Some of them really hate the military though, and have actually tried to kill MPs when they get the chance."

They stopped in front of five graves, sitting side by side each other. Fullmetal read over each name, feeling him become even sicker with every name that he read. Winry, Pinako, Hohenheim, Trisha. Fullmetal gasped and felt his legs give way underneath him. It read Alphonse Elric. Kitty Alphonse walked up to his grave and mewed at it, like he knew this was the boy he was named after.

"Whoa!" Envy managed to catch him, and looked at Alphonse's grave. "Does your world's version of him mean that much to you?"

Fullmetal clenched his hand into a fist. "Yes," he muttered. "Al's the only family I've got left."

"So everyone survived?" Edward asked. "Where you came from?"

Fullmetal looked at Edward, struck by the sorrow in his face. So much so, he couldn't bring himself to say that his mom still didn't survive. "Yes, everyone did."

"All right, put your hands up," a voice from behind them said. They turned and found themselves staring at two Ishbalan males.

The one of the right said, "Don't make this any harder than it needs to be. Just come with us willingly and no one gets hurt."

Kitty Alphonse ran up to Fullmetal, standing in front of the trio trying to look like he would protect them. Fullmetal dropped down and placed a hand on Alphonse's back to stop him from doing anything.

The Ishbalans didn't seem to care. Edward and Envy put up their hands. "What are you doing here?" Edward asked.

"I don't see what business it's got with you," the right Ishbalan said, chuckling.

Fullmetal slowly brought his other hand around Alphonse to pull him back.

Envy smiled. "Well," he said, changing into an Ishbalan, "Too bad you're not going to get the chance to report back. Now Fullmetal!"

Fullmetal slammed his hands together and brought them down on the ground. The moment they made contact, the earth underneath them heaved upwards as it changed to Fullmetal's will, wrapping itself around the Ishbalan's legs.

Edward dropped his hands and pulled the guns out of their hands. "I suggest you don't cause anymore trouble, or things will just get worse for you."

They heard the sound of another gun pointed at Envy's head. They turned and saw that a third Ishbalan snuck up on them, and was now holding Envy with a gun on his temple. "Make any unnecessary moves and he gets it," the Ishbalan said.

Fullmetal and Edward looked at each other and shrugged. "Would this count as unnecessary?" Fullmetal asked, clapping his hands together and creating a blade from his arm.

Bang! The gun was off like that. "Yes, it does," the Ishbalan replied, laughing as Envy fell to the ground.

Edward and Fullmetal laughed also, making all three Ishbalans fall silent. "Joke's on you," Edward stated.

Red lightning ran across Envy and he stood back up. "I'm going to get you two for that later," he said before punching the Ishbalan that shot him.

"Not much we could do," Fullmetal said.

"No way! That one's a Homunculus!" one of the Ishbalans behind them gasped.

"Let's get out of here!"

"I can't move!"

"Neither can I!"

They looked at the two standing Ishbalans. They were struggling to move, but looked scared half to death.

"Any chance they could be used for questioning?" Envy asked.

Edward shrugged. "We've only got one plane, and it's only got three seats. If we were to take them back to headquarters, we would be very hard-pressed to find space on the plane for them."

"Well then, allow me to take them off your hands." They spun around as the Ishbalans cried out in relief, "Scar!"

Fullmetal's pupils contracted as they fell upon the enemy of his world's Amestris.

"Long time, no see, Edward," Scar said. "It's about time we finish our fight." 

**/AN**

**Scar comes. No, I don't actually think his name is Scar, but we're going to have to live with him being called that because I don't know his Ishbalan name.**

**R&R Please!**

**AN/**


	6. Chapter 6

**/AN**

**I'm so sorry this took so long! I've had Writer's Block for a while and just got around to finishing this chapter.**

**DISCLAIMER: I OWN ABSOLUTELY POSITIVELY NOTHING!**

**AN/**

Edward smiled. "I've been looking forward to finishing it as well, actually. Here, to make it fair, we'll give you back your two subordinates so I can have my two friends helping me."

On cue, Fullmetal placed his hands on the ground and the earth that surrounded the two Ishbalan's legs fell away so they were free to move again.

"That's going to be the biggest mistake of your life," Scar said, smiling. He launched himself forward at the same moment as the two Ishbalans. It was apparent they had practiced.

But they weren't fast enough for a shape-shifting Envy, who took on the form of a giant snake and surrounded both Edward and Fullmetal, trying to take a bite out of whoever got into his mouth.

Meanwhile, Edward and Fullmetal were getting ready to fight Scar and his accomplices. Edward was checking his guns. He tossed one to Fullmetal, saying, "Keep it on hand. It could just save your life."

Fullmetal had a gun in his hand once before, but he didn't bother mentioning this fact. He slid the gun in his pocket, glad he wouldn't have to draw transmutation circles to activate his alchemy.

"Now Envy!" Edward shouted. Envy suddenly changed back to the way he was before, landing by the rest of them. Fullmetal slammed his hands into the ground, causing stone spikes to shoot out of the ground and head right for the Ishbalans.

"Too slow!" Scar called out, dodging them and running directly at the trio.

There was the sound of a gun firing and bullets flew right past Scar, like he wasn't there at all. This didn't faze Edward, though, who jumped forward and landed a solid punch on his cheek.

Scar flew into the ground, Edward jumping forward to try and kick him before he could recover.

Behind them, Envy and Fullmetal were finishing up the other two Ishbalans. Going up against an alchemist and a Homunculus with little more than a few guns wasn't the smartest move they made.

There was too much dust in the air to tell if it was Edward or Scar winning, but when the dust did settle down enough, Fullmetal and Envy saw both of them panting and badly wounded.

"How strong is Scar?" Fullmetal asked, knowing far too well how strong Scar was in his Amestris.

"As far as we can tell, he's very strong," Envy explained. "He's been able to stand up to Wrath and survive. You should know Wrath's no pushover."

Fullmetal agreed, remembering how strong the Fuhrer was.

Edward ran forward, trying to land a punch on Scar, only he found himself getting kicked in the stomach. "You're better than this," Scar said. "Or does being here really affect you that much?" To prove his point, Scar walked over to the five graves the trio was looking at earlier and destroyed each one with a kick or a punch.

Fullmetal was the first one to react. These may not have been the same people that made up his family, but he wasn't going to stand by and watch their graves get destroyed. He placed his hands on the ground and pulled his spear out of the ground, grabbing it and running for Scar.

Scar spun around and moved to kick Fullmetal, but Fullmetal used his automail arm to block the kick and brought the spear down on Scar's shoulder.

Scar caught the shaft of the spear with his other hand before it could make contact with his shoulder and used the momentum to send Fullmetal into the ground.

Edward punched Scar from behind, sending the latter flying across the graveyard and crashing into one of the few standing trees.

Alphonse hissed and ran up to Fullmetal, licking a wound on his cheek as Fullmetal got over the shock of getting slammed into the ground. Envy joined them and helped Fullmetal get at least somewhat upright.

They turned towards Scar, waiting to see what his next move would be.

Scar stood up and looked at them, but a barking caught their attention. A golden retriever, blonde with white marks in the same place Den had, came over one of the hills and shot at Scar, barking and snarling.

Fullmetal noticed that while the dog didn't have an official collar, there was a string with a wrench attached to it.

They watched as the dog pulled the wrench off the chain and started hitting Scar with it. Fullmetal recognized Winry's spirit in this dog now.

Scar managed to grab the dog and tossed it aside, but she dropped the wrench and bit into his arm, growling as he tried to shake her loose.

_I'm glad Winry doesn't have teeth like that,_ Fullmetal thought upon seeing the display. Getting hit with wrenches on a semi-daily basis was enough.

The Winry-dog finally let go of Scar's arm, showing how badly his arm was bleeding. Scar gripped the arm close to him and said, "You've won today, Edward, but next time you won't be so lucky." With that, he was gone.

The dog ran up to the group, first licking Fullmetal on the face before trying to reach Edward's cheek so she could lick his face also.

"Well, that was a surprise," Edward said, kneeling down to look at the dog. She licked his cheek before running over to her wrench and attaching it to her collar again.

Envy asked, "Has this dog always been here?"

"Not since the last time I was here," Edward replied, scratching her behind the ears.

Envy looked at Fullmetal. "The cat reminded you of your brother, does she remind you of anyone?"

"Winry," Fullmetal answered, "And I don't think that's a good-gah!" He couldn't finish his sentence because the dog just nailed him in the back of the head with her wrench. "Geez! It's Winry all right."

Envy laughed, petting the dog. "Good girl," he told her. She barked and licked his hand before trying to chase her own tail.

"Something tells me she won't be leaving us alone," Edward said, watching her.

"If Alphonse is anything to go by, that's a good bet," Fullmetal agreed, rubbing the back of his head where he got clocked by the wrench.

Alphonse ran over to the dog and mewed before licking her cheek. She barked and they started running around, but it didn't seem to be anything dangerous.

"Well, looks like we're keeping her then," Edward said. He whistled and she walked back over, Alphonse jumping onto Fullmetal's shoulder. The group walked back to the plane and headed back to Central.

But one thing was still bugging Fullmetal: If Nicholas Flamel's notes on transmutations sent him here, how could he use them to send him back?

**/AN**

**R&R Please!**

**AN/**


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